Grimani Systems CEDIA 2018 Show Report

This client was referred to us by the integrator, who completed this installation about 10 years ago. The room was a dedicated three-row home theater in an upscale neighborhood of Detroit. All the gear was state-of-the-art for its time - from the studio-grade speakers, to the professional HD video projection system. But the surround decoder finally gave up the ghost after several years of faithful service. The client heard that Dolby Atmos® was the latest thing, so he sourced a new processor. He expected it to be an automatic upgrade, but wasn’t aware that he also needed to add speakers for the Top and Wide locations. At any rate, it was time to install, configure, and tune the system for the new processor. I took the job and carved out two days - right before Christmas - for a quick jaunt from my temperate San Francisco Bay Area home to frigid Detroit. (Who doesn't like a little cold for the holidays?) While planning the trip, I found out that the system didn’t include any ...

The life of an audiophile is driven by a relentless and unending pursuit of the idealized audio experience and the feeling of being transported to concert venues all over the world at the hit of the Play button. Sometimes this hobby also consumes the family living quarters and clutters them with large equipment, unsightly wiring, and seating arrangements that aren’t conducive to afternoon tea. A living room in a luxurious Tuscan-style Southern California home was to be converted into a dedicated listening room and home cinema for an uncompromising audiophile client. It houses a concealed set of large Wisdom Audio LS4 speakers, matches the classical interiors of the residence, and serves as a soundproofed retreat. Exceptional picture quality with 4k UHD resolution and 2.35:1 projection screen, Dolby Atmos immersive audio playback, and fully integrated automation for access to the extensive collection of jazz, classical, and rock music, complement the stellar audio-video package. Ou...

In this industry, we regularly cater to “enthusiast” clients who are very enthralled with the idea of a fully engineered and commissioned private cinema. They may have played wit h speakers and receivers in their spare time. They may have preconceived notions about what makes speakers work or not work. They may even want to tell the crew how to go about doing the wiring and installation. This client just built his Tuscan dream home in the rolling hills over Newport Beach, California. He wanted a great place to enjoy concert videos and movies from all around the world. He got that and a lot more in an acoustically treated and tuned room with appropriate sound isolation, Dolby Atmos immersive audio, 4K video, and a luxury-grade interior finish. The room was to be laid out as a formal dedicated two-row theater, without many design frills, and with maximized return on investment for the equipment. The client decided not to adopt the customary stretched fabric dress in order to put mor...

So there's this project down in SoCal; the client is a huge vinyl rock 'n roll and blues fan with what you'd call a multi-use media room. After the initial commissioning of his system, everything was groovy (pun intended) save for some serious hum and noise issues with the high-end turntable rig. Unfortunately, scheduling required us to knock off before we could track down all the issues.  Over the next while, the installer's guys and some outside consultants gave it their best shot - to no avail. Eventually, I said, "Enough is enough; we've got to get this guy squared away."   So, I loaded up my test gear, tossed in my trusty Technics SL1200 turntable with a basic preamp of my own, and headed south. After a good bit of head banging (the bad kind) and hair-pulling, I replaced his turntable and phono pre with mine. Presto! Hum/noise gone. Taking systematic approach of slowly inserting the client’s gear into the scheme, I found a “perfect storm” of i...

The second place CEDIA Awards winner this year is a room in a new luxury high-rise condo which was converted into a dedicated listening room and home cinema for an uncompromising audiophile client. The design brief included (1) housing the client’s five very large Meridian 25th anniversary edition DSP8000SE speakers, (2) matching the modern, slick and artsy interiors of the residence, and, (3) serving as a fully soundproofed retreat from Singapore’s hustle and bustle. Our mission was to design and engineer an environment that could support and enhance a very sophisticated digital  audiophile audio system, with full soundfield quality expectations, and instantly switch to movie studio-grade AV  performance. The client wanted to spend a lot of time enjoying his passion for music and films, so the interior feel had to be comfortable and clean. This is probably the only room in the world with five of the large special edition Meridian  speakers, and the resulting looks, ...

The first-place winner at the CEDIA Home Technology Professional Awards this year was a basement-level, ultra-high-end home cinema in a new house in Nantucket, Massachusetts. This project took two years of development as part of the overall construction of a gorgeous villa nestled among pine forest. The client is a detail-oriented audiophile and videophile who owns an aerospace engineering company, and demands nothing but the best. He had owned several systems before, and was familiar with the products and brands of our industry. He wanted absolute perfection in picture and sound reproduction, and after intently studying all the options, was willing to take the time it took for thorough engineering and project management; a rare privilege! The interior architecture and design of the theater was to be “clean, slick, and modern”, and we completed the design work and lighting design in-house. After several months of deliberations and listening tests of various sound systems, we set...

Check out this video of Anthony Grimani's seminar from this year's T.H.E. Show!